


primadonna girl

by lilibug



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Canon Divergence, F/M, and what they might bring to each other, eventual sexiness, just trying to explore these characters, sweetvee, with hints of bughead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-03-26 23:52:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13868655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilibug/pseuds/lilibug
Summary: When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade.OrVeronica finds herself inexplicably drawn to Sweet Pea. As it turns out, they aren’t quite the opposites that outer appearances would have you believe.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is the first time I've written anything other than bughead, so be kind! SweetVee is my little growing baby, and I hope you love it just as much as I do. 
> 
> This was beta'd by the lovely [theheavycrown](https://theheavycrown.tumblr.com)  
>  
> 
> This is a canon divergence story in which Varchie never got back together after their break up at the Whyte Wyrm.

**____ all i ever wanted was the world_ **

**_{ i can’t help that i need it all }_ **

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Lately, Veronica had been a little exhausted from dealing with the school’s merger with Southside High. Her parents had put her in an exceedingly difficult situation with her peers and she was simply trying to make the best of it.

Volunteering to make the transition easier and settle qualms hadn’t been anything like she’d imagined. Assuming Cheryl would be her main roadblock was a sorely misguided thought.

Tension was running high and so were her stress levels.

Thankfully, Jughead agreed to drop the jacket and wear the uniform Weatherbee had insisted upon. Uniforms were provided to the incoming Southside students, with the help of a sizeable donation from Veronica’s parents. When lettermans jackets, along with Serpents leather, were declared not to be worn in class anymore, things began to settle.

Reggie was finally cooling his jets and Cheryl actually seemed impressed that the Southsiders were willing to put some effort into their schoolwork. Jughead still had a chip on his shoulder, but Veronica  was hoping that Betty could help with that.

Sure, the classrooms were fuller, but Veronica couldn’t deny that things were a bit more exciting at school now.

She was, however, still a little on edge and ill at ease when she had to associate with Archie. Their break up was still recent enough that their mutual friends (essentially everyone) were walking around them on eggshells. Though they needn’t be, as the relationship ended amicably enough. It was just the pride she had to choke down everytime she thought of the words she couldn’t say back to him.

The words “I love you” were a thing of treasure, but her parents never spoke them. Thinking of them and how they’ve affected her just made her heart plummet, so she decidedly didn't.

Though, ruminating on the whole thing, Veronica wasn’t sure if she was just not ready to say the words or if she couldn’t say them because it wasn’t the truth.

One thing Veronica _was_ sure of was that she was in need of some relaxation. Today had been a really weird day for her, all things considered.

So, after the final bell rang, she had taken Betty by the elbow and practically pulled her along to the sleek black car that was waiting to pick her up. Andre was holding the door open for the two of them and Veronica slid into the car with a deep sigh.

She had made a phone call prior to their last class and booked appointments at the salon and day spa downtown. Veronica was in serious need of a facial and a neck massage, among other things.

Relaxing back into the cool leather, she twisted and pulled an ankle up in order to undo the strap of her heels. Slipping her feet out of them, she stretched her legs out as far as she could in the space available before a yawn slipped out.

“It seems like you need a nap more than anything, V,” Betty teased softly, as Veronica opened an eye to look at her, hand stifling her yawn.

“Trust me, _I know,_ ” she said, sending her friend a small tilt of her head. “I plan on doing just that after we’re done this afternoon. My pores are just begging to be unclogged though.”

Betty’s head bobbed in a nod as she sunk down a little in the seat. “I know what you mean. Everything that’s happening lately is stressing me and breaking my skin out.”

Veronica couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Betty's admission. She however knew better than to argue with the stubborn blonde. Though she couldn’t find fault with the first portion, as the appearance of Chic Cooper had certainly caused quite a stir recently.

Scooping up a pair of soft, cozy slippers from the pocket of the seat in front of her, Veronica slipped them on in lieu of her heels she had been wearing all day. Wiggling her toes into them with a small sigh, she smiled as they pulled up in front of the sleek and modern building.

The two girls entered through the ornate glass doors with a sense a belonging. The smell of hairspray and the vanilla chai candles that were synonymous with the salon a pleasant thing to their noses.

They were greeted by a woman at the desk who smiled at them, calling Veronica’s name and ushering them through the salon and towards the spa. They dressed down into fluffy white bathrobes and Veronica pulled her hair into a bun to match Betty’s.

After getting their facials applied they walked to the water room, wrapped towels around their bodies and dropped down into the hot tub together. An employee brought them a plate of snacks and glasses of cucumber water.

Leaning her head back against the headrest along the rim of the tub, Veronica stretched out her legs. She felt the tips of her toes brush Betty’s knees before retracting. “I wish I could live here,” she said, with a pout.

The blonde hummed in agreement and Veronica could hear the snap of a carrot stick. Peeking an eye open, she reached out and grabbed one herself. Dipping it into some of the hummus spread, she then popped it in her mouth with a satisfying crunch.

“So...  _what_ _was that,_ at lunch today?”

The question had caught her a bit off guard while she was mid bite of her carrot and Veronica accidently bit her tongue in surprise. Sitting upright and planting a hand on her chest, she sputtered, chewing hastily.

“What do you mean _what was that?_ It was _nothing,_ ” she said indignantly.

“Yeah,” Betty gave a snort, “Sure seemed that way. The way you were staring at…”

Veronica clenched her eyes shut, gut twisting uncomfortably as she thought about the lunch period that had turned very strange in a matter of moments.

_They were sitting inside, as abysmal as that was, due to the cold weather._

_Veronica, Kevin and Betty had conjured around a small table by the vending machines. She had ordered sushi for them that had been delivered right before the period had let out._

Thinking about it now, daddy was going to kill her for how much money she was spending today…

_She poured individual cups of soy sauce for each of them, sliding chopsticks in their paper packets across the table to the pair._

_Breaking the wooden sticks apart, Veronica placed them between her fingers, demonstrating briefly for Kevin who always still seemed to struggle with his. Picking up a piece, she dipped it in the soy sauce and brought it to her lips._

_“God, I love sushi,” she moaned, hand hovering over her mouth until she was finished chewing._

_She ate a few more bites, arguing with Kevin over the raw fish pieces while Betty stuck to the vegetarian rolls. Just as Veronica had grabbed her bottle of Evian, she glanced around the room when there was a loud ‘whooping’._

_Her eyes flickered over to where the Southsiders, Jughead included, had taken to sitting. Their table wasn’t far, only about two back and one over. They stuck out in their mandated uniforms, very different from the leather and flannel they were always wearing. Their clothes didn’t change the way they acted though_ — _still very much teenagers despite the gang activity._

_Fangs, as Veronica recalled, was standing, chugging from a jug of milk. The others were hooping and hollering, slamming their hands down on the table in encouragement as he drank._

_Cringing, she wrinkled her nose up. He was going to either throw up or have a serious stomach ache._

_He did, however, finish the jug, tossing it away with a flourish while everyone clapped him on the back as he sat back down, proud grin stretching from ear to ear._

‘Let’s see how long that stays down…’ _she thought, solemnly._

_Shaking her head, her eyes lingered on the group. The rest of the members were pulling out amounts of money from their wallets, slapping it on the table in front of Fangs. Jug seemed reluctant, gesturing with hands and pointing up to the clock on the wall behind his shoulder._

_“Ugh. How juvenile,” she drawled, turning back to the food in front of them._

_“Oh, they’re just having some fun, V,” Betty said, plucking up another piece of sushi and smearing a bit of wasabi on it._

_Kevin remained focused on the group for a moment longer before turning back around. His lips quirked up, head tilting as he brought a hand to his mouth, setting his chin in his palm. “I bet he’s just as good at chugging beer…”_

_Veronica placed a hand against her chest in mock indignation. “Kevin, darling, please tell me you don’t find that attractive?”_

_“Well, not so much the chugging part_ — _though that is indicative of_ other _things he might be good at,” he said, giving a one shouldered shrug. “But Fangs himself? Oh hell yeah.”_

_In tandem, the three of them turned back to look at the table of Serpents. Kevin looked coyly over his shoulder and Betty sunk down, leaning forward into him to see around another student. Veronica tilted her hips back as she lifted off her seat, elbows supporting herself on the table in order to see better._

_Her eyes raked over Fangs briefly_ — _he was attractive enough, certainly broad and muscular. She huffed, hips flexing just as her eyes caught on the boy_ — _no,_ man _was more like it, she corrected_ — _next to him.._

_Sweet Pea was taller than any other guy she’d come across so far. She was almost positive that he might be taller than her even while sitting, at these somewhat low cafeteria tables._

_Kevin and Betty had turned back around again, and they were saying something Veronica didn’t quite catch as she continued gazing at the tall Serpent. His head was thrown back in laughter, smile wide. As his laughter died, some of his dark hair fell into his eyes. Then, suddenly, their eyes met and he was staring back at her._

_Dropping back down quickly, and diverting her gaze to the food, Veronica felt her cheeks burn at being caught. Normally she wasn’t one to get flustered, and she_ should _have just owned that moment_ — _perhaps arching a brow and merely looking disinterested._

_That couldn’t have been farther from the truth though, as she had just been openly staring at him after all._

_Keeping her head down for a few more minutes, Veronica stuffed a piece of sushi into her mouth. Once she was done chewing, she cracked the bottle of water, pulling a long drink from it. She wasn’t sure why her throat was so dry._

_She felt a prickling of her skin at the back of her neck and squirmed in her seat. Gingerly, she glanced back up and over to where Sweet Pea was sitting._

_He looking at her again._

_Her eyes widened a fraction but she didn’t dare look away this time. An eyebrow raised at her before his attention was pulled by one of the other members at his table._

_Veronica pondered why he was garnering_ her _attention so much. To be honest, she wasn’t sure. Nor was she sure why she was unable to look away this time._

 _He was picking at something on his tray_ — _she paused then, a burst of warm affection surging through her at how happy the table looked to be eating the school lunch. She didn’t want to think about anything that went on at Southside High but the brief thought of what it must have been like made her stomach ache._

 _Veronica was unable to see what was on his tray, but it was something he was eating with his hands. It must have been messy. He brought a hand up to his mouth, with a complete lack of manners, disgustingly moving to lick his_ — _and suddenly her breath was stuck in her throat._

_Sweet Pea was licking the pad of his thumb, then his lips were sucking at the space between his thumb and index finger. Her eyes were drawn to the lines inked on his thumb, drifting up to roam over the length of his fingers._

_He moved again, index finger right in front of his lips. When he paused, Veronica glanced up and_ he was smirking at her. _She didn’t look away this time, clutching her hands against the edge of the table as she sat rigidly._

_Sweet Pea never wavered the direction of his stare, his lips seemed to quirk up more if anything. Her eyes were drawn back to his hand as his lips parted and she watched with a squirm of fascination as he slipped the finger between his lips and into his mouth. He sucked on his finger a moment, before drawing it out slowly. It caught on his lower lip, pulling it down slightly and then he was crooking the same fingers around a bottle of water._

_Not quite sure where to look, Veronica’s gaze was torn. She glanced down to his hand curled around the water bottle_ — _watching his long fingers squeeze the bottle slightly, and she could swear she heard the crinkle of plastic from her seat. Why she was suddenly biting her lower lip was beyond her._

_Dragging her eyes up the length of Sweet Pea’s chest, she lingered on the dark edge of the tattoo just peeking out of his turtleneck. Veronica ignored the smirk he was wearing and made eye contact with him. Even from this distance, the darkness of his eyes bore into her hotly._

_They continued to stare at one another and Veronica wasn’t sure why she couldn’t pull her eyes away._

_“Veronica,” Betty’s voice cut sharply to her ears but it was the hand reaching across the table and covering hers, where she was clutching the edge with white knuckles, finally broke her._

_Whipping her head back towards her friends, they stared at her, confused._

_“What?” Veronica questioned, letting go of the table and folding her hands primly atop the table._

_Betty and Kevin shared a look before she saw green eyes glance over towards Sweet Pea. “You have been staring at Sweet Pea_ — _” Betty paused, “The lunch bell just rang.”_

_Blinking, Veronica looked around at all the students milling out of the cafeteria. The implication that she’d wasted the rest of her lunch period having a staring contest with that Serpent caused her a mix of different thoughts._

_With a sigh, she snatched up the last piece of sushi and started stacking the dinnerware to pack up in her bag. When she was finished, she looked back up to find her friends still staring at her strangely._

_Furrowing her brow, Veronica bit out another “What?” as she zipped up the lunch bag._

_Kevin threw her an incredulous look, a snort escaping him. “What the hell was that Veronica? You two were practically having sex across the room.”_

_Reeling back, her jaw dropped open and she gave a huff. “That is_ not _what happened.”_

_Betty rolled her eyes and they all stood from the table, filling out towards the hallway. “Then explain what was with that heated staring contest.”_

_Pursing her lips, Veronica hooked the bag around her elbow and walked slightly ahead of the two, tossing some hair over her shoulder. “He was being a Neanderthal and I was watching with thinly veiled disgust.”_

_“_ Right, _” Kevin drew out, tone not hiding his suspicion._

_As they came up to their block of lockers, the trio split apart. Veronica opened hers and hung the bag from the second hook, carefully, as not to crease her coat. Chewing on her lip, she was slow in gathering her next class textbook._

_Why was she still so fixated on the way Sweet Pea had been looking at her? He was probably annoyed._

_But then… why did that whole thing at the end seem like a show?_

_“Your head’s in the clouds, Veronica.”_

_Blinking, she looked up at where Betty was leaning against the adjacent locker. “Not quite, I’m definitely not tall enough,” she quipped._

_Green eyes were twinkling at her, a sly smile pulling on Betty’s features as she looked past Veronica’s shoulder. “Oh, I’m sure you could get some help with that.”_

_Turning her head, she glanced down the hall, finding Sweet Pea’s head looming above most everyone else in the hall._

_Whipping her head back towards Betty, she hissed, “Not funny.”_

_The blonde rolled her eyes and watched as Veronica finally pulled her things out of her locker. The walk to class was quiet, as she walked with her nose slightly pointed in the air._

Opening her eyes, Veronica looked across the hot tub at Betty with a sigh. “I don’t know, he just caught my eye is all. The Serpents are new and interesting,” Veronica said with a shrug.

“Well, that’s fair. But it doesn’t explain why you were practically undressing him from across the room.”

Scrunching her nose up, Veronica waved her hands through the hot water, fingers scooping up air bubbles. “He’s somewhat attractive.”

Betty gave her _the look_ , and Veronica rolled her eyes. “He’s very attractive. Hard not to notice when he’s such a giant. But,” she paused for emphasis, swirling her finger around in the air. “That does _not_ mean anything. Reggie is attractive and I wouldn’t go near him with a ten foot pole,” she said, shrugging a shoulder.

“Well, maybe you should get to know him,” Betty offered. “You might find something you like.”

“Oh? Like dating a Serpent has worked out so well for you?”

Betty frowned, looking away. “Ok, so I’m not the best example.”

Sighing, Veronica shook her head. “No, I’m sorry B. That wasn’t fair. You and Jughead have more going on than just that. But if you don’t _do_ something about it then _I’m_ going to go crazy.”

There was a small smile on Betty’s face again at the tease. “I know. It’s so stupid,” she said, launching into a rant on how Jughead won’t just accept that she isn’t going to be safe the further she is away from him. Conversely they could protect each other better together.

Nodding along with her friend’s words, Veronica let her thoughts drift to snake tattoos and black leather — she closed her eyes for a moment, thinking back to that first day of the school merger. The moment he had stepped up to the registration desk that she had painstakingly set up was still fresh in her mind.

_His looming shadow fell over her and she had to crane her neck back to look up at him fully._

_He breathed a soft, “Name’s Sweet Pea,” lips turned up in a smirk._

_Of course, it was a moniker, but Southside High had included his little nickname in their records as if it were a middle name._

_While she had been organizing papers in the Blue and Gold office days prior, Betty had leaned over her shoulder and shaken her head while pointing to the page on top. She’d explained briefly that it was his preferred name and at the time Veronica was only eager to make the transition easier between the two schools and she quickly fixed the paperwork so that she had written his name in her loopy cursive the way he preferred._

_She had to shake herself from her stupor, handing him the papers with his name in the upper right corner, only aware that now, as they left her grasp, that she had doodled a little flower beside it, of the same name. His fingers plucked them from her grasp and then he was gone, moving past the table to where Jughead was already standing._

_Leather, Irish Spring, and cigarettes wafted gently under nose and she inhaled it greedily_.

 _Fuck._ Veronica groaned quietly, sinking down so that the water was just below her nose. She blew out a steady stream of frustration at both her conflicted thoughts and the fact that she’d just _ruined_ her facial, that came out as big underwater bubbles.

.

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_Monday_

 

The weekend passed uneventfully after Hiram had given Veronica a talking to about her frivolous spending. She rolled her eyes and promised she would reign it in; all the while she had crossed her fingers together behind her back, an innocent smile on her face.

After the spa day with Betty, she had been sleeping a bit more soundly. Though with sleep came dreams that were always fleeting and left her grasping (and gasping) for more.

Unable to fully recall what went on in said dreams was frustrating. The fact that she always awoke aroused was also disconcerting.

Veronica spent her days off watching Netflix and eating the gourmet popcorn she had ordered online earlier in the week. She texted Betty and Kevin while she lounged in her silk pajamas during the day and browsed Glamazon for more things she didn’t need. Online shopping was always a time suck and before she knew it, the weekend was over and she hadn’t even touched a single page of her homework.

Though she felt well rested from sleeping in on both Saturday and Sunday, she was irritable for reasons she didn’t want to own up to. Admittedly, Veronica was taking it out on everyone around her.

It didn’t justify why she’d yelled at a freshman student who bumped into her shoulder and had apologized for it. When Kevin called her out on it she snapped at him too. Immediately, she felt a migraine coming on between her temples that she imagined as a sordid punishment. Karma was always a bitch.

Veronica was determined to find some redemption, so she used her free period to tidy up some clutter in the student lounge. Normally Veronica would keep Betty company in the library or assist in the office. She just felt like doing something a little more than raking her eyes over book titles or handing Mrs. Sims folders and stapling papers.  Plus this room was _filthy_. Her peers could be very disgusting.

Before she got started, Veronica texted Andre to bring her a few things as soon as he could — her Natural Calm supplement for a boost of magnesium and her turmeric capsules, as she was more of fan of natural remedies than she was medications. Usually the two were enough to lessen her migraines to a tolerable level.

And so, a series of strange events started with this single decision to clean. (She would look back on it with a strange fondness, later.)

Veronica was stacking books and placing them back on the bookshelves in the proper order, throwing trash away, and wiping the tables and chairs down. There were fingerprints all over the vending machines and, with a sneer under her breath about people having class, she wiped all the glass in sight with some spray cleaner.

When she was finished, her hands were still itching for something else to do. Deciding on a whim to dust the trophy case, she got to work.

The bottom and middle shelves were easy, of course. Veronica picked up each trophy, wiping a thick layer of dust (her rag was turning black at an alarming pace) from the older ones, and then placed it back on the shelf. Reaching on her tiptoes for the top shelf, even in her Milano Blahniks, was a big stretch. It was a bad day to wear the short, purple pleated skirt she had chosen that morning.

She was able to reach most of the trophies despite her struggles, which included snapping (again) at the student who had offered to help her. There was a large trophy that had been pushed to the very back of the shelf that and no matter how far she stretched, her fingertips wouldn't even skim the base.

With a sigh, Veronica was really starting to regret turning down the stool that had been offered to her. Even hopping, a dangerous task in her designer stilettos, all she had in her grasp was a handful of air.

There was a deep chuckle from behind her and she grit her teeth. Her hands clutched the edge of the glass shelf with ferocity as she fought the urge to turn around and sneer at her onlooker.

She didn’t get the choice to turn as the sudden solid presence at her back pushed her lightly against the shelves — his front to her back. With a sharp intake of breath, her muscles tensed and her spine stiffened until, that is, she smelt Irish Spring and spicy cigarettes. It made her throat dry as arms extended up above hers, tan hands with a familiar thumb tattoo grabbed hold of her prize with ease.

The warmth of his body was calm and soothing, yet ignited a fire within her at the same time.

He backed away from her, warmth leaving her back, and Veronica was able to remember how to breathe again. He set the trophy that had been so out of her reach on the shelf at their waist level.

“Don’t say I never did anything nice for ya, Princess.” Sweet Pea’s voice riled her up even more than his actual words did.

Lowering her arms and tugging on her skirt discreetly with one hand, the other smoothed out her top. She had to bite her tongue to stop herself from spitting out that he couldn’t call her that. Instead, she looked him up and down briefly, smirk curing her lip up as she thought of something witty.

“If I’m a Princess, does that make you Prince? Because I don’t think you could pull off those dance moves.”

Sweet Pea raised his eyebrows at her, head bobbing back in gesture of disbelief and possibly admiration. He crossed his arms over his chest, which had Veronica struggling to stare up at his stupid face instead.

And stupid face it really was — at this close distance she was able to see the deep brown of his eyes, rich and dark, hypnotic. Gazing at him, she saw the wrinkle between his brows, watching as he processed her words.

“I’m definitely no Prince. If you’re looking for one maybe you oughta try Mantle.”

Veronica scrunched her nose up at him, fake gagging a little as she turned back around towards the shelves, clutching her rag. “I’ll pass on that one, thanks.”

Pulling the trophy over, she cleaned it up while listening for the squeak of Sweet Pea’s boots on the polished floor.

It wasn’t until she was finished that she looked over her shoulder to find him still there, waiting, leaning against the vending machines. She resisted the urge to sneak a hand up to clutch at her pearls, mourning the glass that she had just painstakingly polished.

“Yes?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Sweet Pea gave a nod towards the trophy. “How’d you expect to get it back up there if you couldn’t get it down?”

Blinking, Veronica looked down at the trophy for a moment before shaking her head. “Alright then, tall boy,” she said handing the trophy out for him to take.

His eyebrows furrowed and he didn’t budge from his position. “That’s not my name.”

She threw him an exasperated look. “And my name’s not Princess. So what should I call you, sweet cheeks?”  

He snatched the trophy from her outstretched hand as her arm was starting to droop from the weight of it. “Sweet Pea. _My name.”_

Veronica bit her lip, holding down the giggle that was welling up in her chest. She waited until he set the trophy back on the shelf above her head before responding. “I think I’ll call you sugar. Because you’re just _so sweet._ ”

Sweet Pea snorted at that and started to stomp away. Her eyes followed him, trained on the way the navy polo stretched across his shoulders — her gaze dipping down further.

“See you around, _Princess_ ,” he said, clearly trying to make a point.

There was a tightness in her chest that she couldn’t ignore. “You can only hope so, sugar snap pea,” her voice raising across the looming distance between them. She was met with his middle finger flipping up her way.

Rolling her eyes, Veronica turned back to her task, although her heart wasn’t quite in it anymore. When Andre brought the things she’d requested later during lunch, she felt guilty because her head felt fine.

There was a spark lighting up inside her though, coursing through her veins like lighting in a summer storm. It was enthralling. 

 

 

_tbc_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me your thoughts? 
> 
> Find me on tumblr! [lilibug--xx](https://lilibug--xx.tumblr.com)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter, yay! More sweetvee goodness. <3
> 
>  
> 
> This was beta'd by the lovely [theheavycrown](https://theheavycrown.tumblr.com)

_Next week_

_._

_._

_._

The last period bell had just rang and Veronica practically skipped to her locker with unprecedented glee. Wednesday's were, perhaps, her favorite day of the school week.

Overlooking Cheryl’s grueling nature, Veronica actually relished in the redhead’s desire for perfection. Like she’d said once before, she had a lot of aggression that was better channeled into other things. Practicing cheerleading and dance routines until her thighs were quaking was generally a good outlet.

Wednesday's were special because the River Vixen’s had an extended practice. It was a half hour longer than usual due to the time that was cut from their Thursday practice. Every night before big game days on Fridays they have a celebratory dinner with all of the sports teams of the season.

She enjoys the dinners well enough, but contrary to popular belief, she does get jitters before a performance. So, often, she would only eat half of her meal and then end up going home and binging on junk food that was completely terrible for her.

Basketball season had yet to fully commence but they were still following the same routine. Which was something Veronica cherished, though quietly. Betty still struggled with Cheryl’s barking orders, the friendship between the two pseudo cousins barely more amicable despite everything the group had been through.

Just as she was about to close her locker a hand curled around the top, stopping it from shutting.

Her eyes snapped up and _up_ and she cursed under her breath.

Sweet Pea was leaning heavily against the door of her locker, looking down at her with mirth reflected in his dark eyes. Veronica used all of her strength to continue trying to close the door — in vain.

“Give it up, Princess,” he used his other hand to flick the back of hers. She yelped at the slight sting, pulling her hand up to her chest and cradling it with a frown.

Furrowing her brow, Veronica stood up on her tiptoes, dosing out her own flick of pain against the fingers hanging over the inside edge of the locker. Sweet Pea, however, didn’t so much as flinch.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Veronica looked up at him, pointedly ignoring the way his smirk made her squirm in place. “What do you want,” she paused for a second, “String Bean?”

Biting her tongue at the look on his face, she tilted her head to the side, smirking up at him. Sweet Pea grumbled under his breath, shaking some hair from his eyes and fixing her with a gruff stare.

“I was wondering _if you would be so kind_ to lend me some of your notes from English, but I guess everyone’s right when they call you a royal bitch.”

Veronica’s eyes widened a fraction, her smirk slipping back into a frown as she pinched the skin of her arm and took a calming breath.

“No, I’m sorry,” she apologized, shaking her head. “I just thought that we were joking—”

“Veronica.”

That was the first time she’d heard him actually say her name, not _Princess_. The way it rolled off his tongue and sounded in her ears was absolutely sinful. It did the job in shutting her up, as he’d intended, since she’d snapped her mouth shut.

“I was kidding.”

“Oh,” she said, her shoulders slumping slightly from the rigid posture she had been holding. “So it’s alright if I continue through the vegetable aisle with your nicknames?” she said, trying to ignore the pull in her gut to slide closer to him and lessen the distance.

“Call me whatever you want baby,” Sweet Pea purred (she was purposefully ignoring the way her heart had started to race), eyes dropping from her face to her locker. “—If you lend me your English notes. Toni is a shit note taker, Jones never even _takes_ notes and Fangs isn’t much help either with his chicken scrawl.”

Raising an eyebrow, Veronica shook her head. “No.”

A frown marred his features, a wrinkled crease between his eyebrows. In the upper corner of her vision, she watched his knuckles turn white against their grip on her locker. His lip turned up and for a second she thought he was going to _snarl_ at her. “Come on, don’t make me beg.”

_Now that would be interesting to see,_ she mused. Looking disinterested, Veronica fingered the strand of pearls at her neck. Sweet Pea’s eyes followed her hand to her throat, lingering, as she hooked her finger around the necklace and twisted it as she hummed in thought.

“Why not ask Betty?” she questioned, since her best friend was a peer mentor and practically photocopied her notes to hand them out to anyone who needed them.

“Because,” Sweet Pea grumbled, finally looking back up towards her face. “Jones would be pissed. He’s still mooning over her and hasn’t realized he’s being a little bitch about it yet.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at that, shaking her head. Betty and Jughead desperately needed some help. Maybe she should lock them in a closet for an afternoon and see what happens…

Shaking her head, Veronica doled out a tight-lipped “Fine,” and turned to her locker. She ran her index finger down the color coded spines of spiral notebooks, pulling out the purple one she’d selected for English and handing it out to him. “This week's notes are towards the back. Obviously.”  

“Obviously,” he mimicked, bringing both hands down to pull the notebook from her grasp.

“I hope you don’t mind my cursive,” she spoke after a moment. Sweet Pea’s eyes darted up from where he’d been flipping through the notebook. Veronica was stunned by the clearness of his gaze as she looked up at him.

“You’re handwriting, cursive, whatever, is great. It’s easy to read and pretty to look at,” he said, lips quirking up in a smirk as he leaned in a bit closer, causing her head to tilt back to keep eye contact and — he winked at her? His gaze was slightly over her shoulder.

There was no reasonable explanation for the way her heart was stuttering against her chest like it was.

“Just… bring it back to me before the weekend.” Veronica finally managed.

“Sure, princess.”

His eyes flickered back down to hers and she felt herself akin to a fish, staring up at him with wide eyes and slightly parted lips. There was a stretch of silence between them that had her starting to sweat.

Finally, Sweet Pea murmured out a “thanks” and then turned away. Veronica was left staring at his retreating back side as he walked down the hallway.

Once all the fuss over the uniforms had died down, Weatherbee allowed the Southsiders to dress in their street clothes again, just sans jackets and tattoos covered. She had never appreciated a pair of worn in jeans more than she did now — watching Sweet Pea walk down the hallway.

Glancing over her shoulder, she caught a glimpse of Archie’s distinctive red hair and a frown on his face.

Yeah, she really didn’t have time for _that_ can of worms.

Slamming her locker shut, Veronica turned in the direction Sweet Pea had gone in — away from Archie. Hurrying through the hallway, she narrowly avoided the redhead’s calls of her name, instead jogging to cheer practice without any of the things she needed to take home.

.

.

.

_Monday_

 

The next couple of days went by without a hitch. She had felt surprisingly well, despite sensing she was coming down with a cold a few days prior. Of all things trivial, she wasn’t going to be stopped by one but she certainly took measures to counteract it.

Drinking her orange juice, chewing vitamin C tablets, washing and disinfecting everything around her to point of becoming neurotic.

Betty had to sit her down in the lounge after cheer practice and tell her she was overreacting. Veronica had stared down at her hands — dry and cracked from the constant hand washing and sanitizer she had been pumping out.

She had fallen back into the couch with a big sigh and grumbled about needing a paraffin dip.

Betty had wrapped her arms around Veronica and they sat in contemplative silence until the blonde spoke. “Why don’t you help me with the Blue and Gold today? Kevin’s doing some extra work to cut weight for his his weigh-in this weekend, so I’m down a person.”

Eyeing her warily, Veronica stayed silent.

“Please,” the blonde drew out, “It’ll take your mind off your constant worrying over germs,” Betty said, knocking shoulders with Veronica, bumping her a bit and putting on her best puppy dog eyes. Which, god, how could anyone resist those? Veronica wasn’t sure how Jughead did.

She watched those big green eyes, their pleading gleam with the desperate smile and felt her own forming, unable to stop it. Betty squealed, clapping her hands together and jumping up from the couch. “I’ll take that as a yes. Let’s go.”

Allowing herself to be pulled along, Veronica followed languidly as her legs pounded heavily against the tiles. They felt very much like they weighed like a ton of bricks. She wished she hadn’t pushed herself so hard at practice for once.

The air was always chillier in the hallways after school ended, especially in the winter when they turned the heat down lower, because it wasn’t packed with students like sardines in a can. The girls hadn’t changed from their practice shirts and shorts either, so that wasn't helping.

Dropping onto the couch in the classroom Betty had commandeered for the newspaper, she waited for instructions. The blonde was flipping on lights, booting up her computer and pulling papers from her impeccably organized file with newspread layouts and ideas.

Veronica couldn’t help letting her eyes slip closed, pulling her legs up to tuck underneath her on the decidedly comfortable couch. She almost felt relaxed enough to fall asleep...

“Veronica!” the call of her name was loud and in response her eyes flew open and she jolted upright. Blinking, Veronica had to stifle a yawn, feeling guilty for it.

“If you’re that tired V, just go home and go to sleep. You’ve been trying so hard to stop yourself from getting a cold that you’ve worked yourself to exhaustion.”

She could only nod sleepily, dragging herself up from the couch slowly. Veronica pulled her cell phone from where she’d tucked it in between the band of her shorts in a makeshift pocket. She sent a text to Andre that she would be waiting at the school entrance for him to pick her up. Thinking absently that she ought to purchase a gift for his more-than-usual running around for her lately. For dealing with both her parents and her, Andre was most certainly deserving of it.

Distracted thinking was what caused the next series of events that all seemed to happen in slow motion.

The shoelaces of Veronica’s keds must have gotten loose, one end dangling over the edge of her shoe just enough to get caught underneath her foot. Ordinarily, she might stumble a bit, grumble about, and then bend down to re-tie her shoelaces. The fact that it was happening as she was going down the stairs from the second level to the first, was a bit of a problem.

She felt herself stumble forward, her other foot just missing the next step and suddenly the landing in between the flights was flying up to meet her face.

But, however cliche it was, a pair of strong hands planted themselves on her waist to steady her. Veronica was plucked into the air and saved from the ostentatious landing that would have surely befallen her.

The ground was underneath her feet again and she was staring up into rich, dark brown eyes. Shaggy black hair, not dissimilar to her own color, was mussed and wild. For a brief moment, Veronica thought about running her hands through it and making it even more bedraggled.

Blinking, she felt those strong hands squeeze her waist and a gasp left her lips. His hands could almost completely encircle her and she imagined his warm palms against her bare skin, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake.

“Veronica?” Sweet Pea’s voice questioned for what was maybe the third time, if the ringing in her ears was any indication.

“Yes?” Veronica answered, as if she hadn’t just been staring up at him in a trance. Finally she was able to glance at the rest of him as she pulled herself from his eyes. Sweet Pea was sweaty and smelled like the boys locker room. He was wearing a Riverdale High shirt with cut off sleeves and matching athletic shorts. She couldn’t help but stare at the glimpse of strong thighs underneath the flimsy fabric as she discreetly looked him up and down.

“You about did a face-plant there. You seem a little out of it.”

The little furrow of his brows made her want to reach up on her tiptoes to smooth it away with her thumb. Her hands moved up to his chest instead, drawing a line from the path of his sweat-soaked shirt up to the edge. She wasn’t quite sure what she was doing when her finger grazed over the edge of the sweat slicked snake tattoo on his neck. Where they were touching felt sizzling hot, and Veronica brushed her thumb against the column of his throat, fleetingly.

She had heard of course, earlier in the day, that the basketball team had invited some of the Serpents to play a little game after school. Certainly, with all of Sweet Pea’s height he would be a formidable opponent. Oh, how she wished to have seen _that_ go down.

“Well, I should thank you then, for saving me. A damsel in distress should always thank her knight in shining armor, don’t you think?” she said with a tilt of her head.

“Whatever you say, Princess,” he teased accordingly.

Veronica leaned up on her tiptoes, but still wasn’t at a good angle. She glanced behind her and stepped backwards, keeping her hands on Sweet Pea’s arms to keep him locked about her waist. She stepped up onto the step that she’d missed in her tumble and then encircled her arms around his neck. Electricity shot up her arms like wildfire, her hands digging into his hair for purchase as she fought the urge to spring away.

The damp ends of the hairs at his neck slid through her fingers easily as she pressed herself against his chest. His fingers spread apart on her waist, widening his grip as his fingers dug into her skin with a gentle, reassuring pressure. He had raised an eyebrow at her, not quite sure what to make of the physical contact she had decided on. But Veronica was enjoying all the hard planes of his chest pressed against her front — hard to her soft. She felt the cool metal of the dog tags he always wore, tucked under his shirt, against her.

She had never been quite this close to him before; there were little flecks of gold in the brown of his eyes that she found herself getting lost in. He had a scattering of barely there freckles across the bridge of his nose. There was a little dimple on the left side of his mouth when he was smirking, like he was now, that made warmth rise up in her chest.

“Like what you see, shortie?”

Veronica tsk’d, clicking her tongue. “Is that how you tease someone about to grant you a reward?”

His eyebrows shot up again and he gave a little chuckle. “Well, I don’t have all day. Gotta get and home and shower off all this Northside entitlement.”

Veronica leaned forward, still standing on her tiptoes due to his height. The grip on her waist tightened again and she smiled as she pressed her lips to the skin of Sweet Pea’s cheek.

“Thank you, my dashing savior. My green giant.” Veronica fluttered her lashes and brought herself back to standing flat on her feet, her fingers uncurling the hands from around her waist. She watched Sweet Pea’s slightly dumbfounded expression as she walked around him then down the stairs with a more careful air of grace.  

“Princess and the pea.”

Veronica paused on the last step, looking over her shoulder to glance up to where he was leaning against the railing. “I beg your pardon?”

“It was the fairytale my nana used to read to me most often,” Sweet Pea gave her an appraising look that she felt with a shiver tracking slowly down her spine. “Never woulda thought I’d meet a real-life Princess though. Seven-year-old me would be ecstatic.”

“Well,” Veronica said, swallowing thickly, “glad to have made his day.” Without turning back around, she walked down the hallway, hairs on the back of her neck standing straight up. She couldn’t help imagining the way his eyes might have watched her — her hips swaying with a little more flair in those little practice shorts than usual.

After stopping to gather her things from her locker, she burst through the double doors and into the chilled evening air. Veronica was thankful she need not wait for her ride home. She bounded down the front steps with jelly legs.

Sliding into the waiting car, her body was a swirling mix of molten hot and tingly cold. She threw her bag on the floor and curled up into the leather seat, leaning her forehead against the cool window.

This was beginning to be a problem.

.

.

.

_Friday night_

 

It was game night, the first home basketball game of the season.

Veronica had pulled her hair up into a high ponytail, the ends curled, tied off with a bright blue glittery bow. She had gently curled the other Vixen’s hair while they got ready for the game. She was feeling some pre-game jitters tonight; her hands kept smoothing out imaginary wrinkles in the pleats of her short cheerleading skirt.

Betty caught her fidgeting and handed her the bag of pom poms to distribute.

They were in the middle of their warm-up cheer when Veronica spotted Sweet Pea in the crowd. She almost missed a step and had to correct herself before she missed the cue for her back handspring.

When they were back in formation at the side of the court, Veronica placed her hands on her hips. Her hands curled into tight fists as she kept her elbows bent at the angle Cheryl demanded.

She was able to avoid looking into the crowd for a while, yelling with a smile when the Bulldogs scored. Her body carried her on auto-pilot through intermittent cheer routines. Throughout it all she felt a burning at the base of her skull, encouraging her eyes to wander. It was a temptation that she stubbornly refused to yield to.

But eventually she caved. Her eyes found her target the moment she glanced up.

Veronica noted him proudly wearing his leather along with Fangs, Toni, and Jughead; their little group stationed high up in the bleachers. Toni was wearing what looked like a Vixen’s practice shirt under her jacket, cropped suspiciously like Cheryl’s. Jughead was stuffing his face with a hotdog, and she found her eyes rolling accordingly.

Her attention settled back on Sweet Pea. It was obvious he was watching her as well. He had drawn one knee up, foot planted on the row of seats in front of him, elbow resting on it as he looked down at her, fingers at his lips.

Someone was shaking her arm and Veronica slowly turned her head, her eyes not breaking his gaze. When she finally managed to look at Betty all the sound in the gymnasium returned at full volume, deafening after the silence of her focus. She winced as a horn blared over the loudspeaker, her ears ringing at the sound.

“V, come on! It’s almost the end of the half!” Betty shouted over the announcer, fingers hooking around Veronica’s bicep to prepare for the halftime show.

Veronica retrieved her gold pom poms from the pile, returning her small fists to her hips as she trotted toward the diagonal line behind Ginger.

Glancing upward over her shoulder, she watched as Sweet Pea met her gaze as if on cue. Veronica felt a shiver slide down her spine as she whipped her head forward, ponytail swishing over her shoulder in a curtain of black. She took a deep breath, and focused on the floor.

She had finally figured it out.

Yes, Sweet Pea was physically attractive, anyone with eyes could ascertain that. But what she had discovered from their last encounter was that the feelings that had been an unnoticed simmer, had risen to a raging boil — threatening to burst out of her like an erupting geyser.

What made everything inexplicably different was the reality of the situation; she was _attracted to Sweet Pea._

Moniker, leather, cigarettes, Southside and all. She _wanted_ him, every brash part.

She wasn’t entirely certain what to do about it, either.

There was the fact that her father might have an aneurysm, due to the fact that he was single-handedly trying to dismantle the entirety of the Southside for his own capital gains and would never approve one of its residents as good enough for his daughter.

None of it boded well for her, honestly.

Then of course, there was Sweet Pea himself. She had gleaned his possible interest in her over the course of their interactions, but was uncertain if his attention moved beyond their playful games.

She could only imagine his reaction if out what her father was really planning. That was a powder keg bound to cause more destruction to any possible prospects between them than any other obstacle.

Closing her eyes, Veronica felt a familiar sinking in her gut. _Disappointment_.

She forced herself through the routine, her smile as fake and plastic-y as Cheryl always demanded. The rest of the game was spent purposefully looking at the court and little else.

They ended up winning, just barely, against Centerville. As much as Veronica loved to see the team win, it was always met with an upturned nose as she was enveloped in group circles and hugs of basketball players who reeked of sweat. She patted their shoulders primly, air kissing cheeks, saving her hugs for her girls.

They always posed for a picture then headed to their respective locker rooms after the crowd started to dissipate. Afterward, Veronica stayed with Betty to pick up their signs, pom poms, and the various other things they’d scattered against the wall where they stationed.

Everyone had just about cleared out, and the silence in the gymnasium had begun to feel unsettling.

Veronica thought about Betty’s offer to go to Pop’s for a milkshake. Jughead was going to be there — would Sweet Pea?

“What are you thinking, V? You can’t do this. Just forget about him for five fucking minutes,” she whispered under her breath.

Carrying the signs under her arm and the pom poms, she dropped the bag of trash into the bin before turning the corner down the ramp to the girls locker room, following behind Betty.

Finally, she relented with the other girl’s pleas to join her at Pop’s, caving with a sigh.

Deciding to wait until she got home to change out of her uniform, she settled for just taking her hair down and flat ironing the ends that had been curled. With a quick appraisal in the mirror, she slung her bag over her shoulder and followed Betty out to her car.

She hadn’t made it very far when she realized her phone wasn’t on her person or in her bag. Doubling back for it as Betty continued on, Veronica finally found it wedged underneath the bench in front of her locker in the girls room.

Unlocking the screen, she found several texts of encouragement from her mother about her performance even though Veronica could have sworn she didn’t see her tonight. Clicking it back off, she tucked it into her bag and jogged back outside.

As she was rounding the corner towards the back parking lot, someone pushed on her shoulder. Her breath caught in her throat as her back flattened against the brick wall, pupils trying to adjust to the low light from the far away spot lamp. Veronica’s stomach dropped when her eyes drew up and up still, finally focusing on rich brown.  

“Sweet Pea?” she questioned with a frown, tilting her head back to look at him as his arms came up beside her head, palms flat against the brick, caging her in.

“Veronica,” he drawled, voice low and thick like raw honey. Her name had never sounded so beautiful. It sent shivers trailing down her spine and goosebumps running up her arms.

Veronica let her bag slip from her shoulder to fall on the ground as her bottom lip began to quiver. She pulled it between her teeth to settle the shake of her nerves.

“What are you doing?” she asked, quietly, despite knowing exactly what this was.

His eyes were focused on her face, drinking her in with a heady gaze. He was looking down at her through thick lashes, hair curled at his forehead. Her fingers twitched, itching to push the hair back on his forehead, to tug on those black tressels. She fingered the hem of her skirt instead, hyper aware that he was pressing forward and closing the distance between their bodies.

“You look so fucking good in this little short skirt. I couldn’t stand it.”

Veronica pressed herself as flush to the wall as she could, her hands coming up to plant themselves against Sweet Pea’s chest between them.

She didn’t speak but parted her lips as she tilted her head back further, fingernails pressing against the solid muscle underneath her fingertips. Finally, after a moment, she found her voice. “And what exactly are you going to do about it?”

“That’s up to you, princess. Tell me what you want...” Sweet Pea trailed off as he brought a hand from the wall, down, fluttering at her waist. She could feel the heat of him under her own palms as she inched her fingertips underneath the leather jacket.

“I… don’t know,” she whispered, truthfully.

Sweet Pea leaned down towards her and instinctively, she rose up on her tiptoes to level the rest of their height difference.

“Then maybe you should try something new. Do whatever that pretty little head of yours is telling you not to do,” he spoke as he slowly leaned in, his lips but a hair's breadth from her. They were so close, it was easy to smell the remnants of nicotine and spearmint on his breath.

“Why?” Veronica asked, looking from his lips up to his rich, brown eyes. They sparkled, even in the dark, as he chuckled.

“Because I want you.”

A shudder ran through her that had her back arching, forcing her to press against him as her hands slid from being clutched in his worn cotton shirt upwards, from his chest. They skimmed the skin under the collar of his shirt, fingernails running against the seam of his leather jacket. Veronica’s fingertips walked up the skin of his snake tattoo before she looped them around his neck.

Sweet Pea brought both hands down onto her waist, warm palms smooth and firm against her sides as he pulled her closer against him until there was little to no space in between them.

“I want…” Veronica paused, eyes searching his face as her fingers tightened their hold on his neck, “you too,” she said, breathlessly.

That was the permission Sweet Pea had been seeking. He brought their lips together, swiftly and with enough force to send her gasping into his mouth as he pressed her against the brick. His hands roamed her waist, sliding under the cropped cheerleading top and smoothing against the white singlet she was wearing. She desperately wished the fabric wasn’t keeping his touch from her bare skin. The sounds of cars, footsteps, laughter echoing from parking lot, and all the other sounds of the world fell silent.

His lips against hers applied a demanding but soft pressure as they traded open mouthed kisses. There was a swift gradation of intensity that had her clinging to him as the world became a dizzying, swaying thing around her. Veronica’s heart was racing wildly and her spine was tingly with wild tremors sparking along her nerve endings. She felt a rush of helplessness, a sinking, yielding, surging tide of warmth that left her boneless in Sweet Pea’s arms.

He raised one hand from her waist up to her jaw, cradling it in his palm as he tilted her head further back. Her concentration was waning; she dropped back down from her tiptoes, pulling him with her. Sweet Pea grunted against her as their teeth clacked together when her head snapped back into the new angle.

They parted and she felt his hands slide around the backs of her thighs, gripping her deftly and _lifting_. With a squeak escaping from her parted lips, Veronica brought her knees up around Sweet Pea’s hips as he hauled her up and pressed her back to the brick wall. The heavy weight of him at her chest made her heart stutter against her ribcage, as if threatening to burst out and flee. Her arms slid further around his neck, hooking her elbows over his shoulders as she threaded her hands through his thick, dark locks, that were just as soft and silky as she had imagined.

Veronica tilted her head forward, drawing him in with her eyes, their lips meeting as she squeezed him between her thighs. Sweet Pea was nestled right in between her legs and she felt the shift of his hips against her, pressing forward. The rough denim of his jeans against her smooth skin and the evidence of his arousal pressed right against her hip. He groaned softly, low in his throat, into Veronica’s mouth.

Every part of her body thrummed with a burning electricity, she snagged Sweet Pea’s lip between her teeth, tugging on it before she had to pull away, gasping for air. She tilted her head back, exposing her neck to his lips. He was licking, sucking, and biting his way under her ear, fanning the flames higher than she had ever imagined. He moved in a line down from her throat to her collarbone; Veronica was thankful the basketball season singlets weren’t turtlenecks.

She moaned into his mouth as his fingers dug into her thighs without constraint. She felt entirely too pleasant and warm and sensual and _open._

Her hands drifted from around Sweet Pea’s neck, pushing lightly at his chest while pulling her lips away from his slowly, reluctantly. Their eyes met and Veronica opened her mouth to a tumble of word vomit that felt just as vile in her throat as the real thing. “Sweet Pea, anyone could see us… we shouldn’t be doing this here."

He grunted and his eyes flashed darkly, hands tightening around her waist before he dropped her abruptly back down to her feet. Her hands slipped from his jacket as he turned, and her mouth gaped open as she watched him stalk away. His boots stomped heavily across the pavement before he turned the corner.

Feeling stunned, Veronica was left to tug her skirt down from where it had ridden up to her hips, while the chill cut through the air and sunk straight into her bones. Her skin had been sizzling and crackling with flames of passion but now she felt so cold that a shiver worked its way down her spine. She leaned back against the brick and curled one hand into a fist then slammed it back against the wall. _So stupid._ Clenching her eyes shut, she let out an exasperated sigh. Her mouth had gotten the better of her; turning a scenario, that had been even better than her dreams, into crumbling ashes and ruin faster than she could say “Sweet Pea".

When she finally slid into station wagon, Betty was uncharacteristically silent. A look of discernment flashed across the blonde’s face before she turned away.

The ride to Pop’s was filled with a sense of worriment that bled into her bones like dread, it had her gut turning uncomfortably.Veronica kept her eyes glued to the dashboard above the glovebox where Polly had carved her name into the upholstery. She kept waiting for Betty to say something.  

When the car clicked off, the silence was stagnating. She heard the shuffle of fabric and then her hand was being cupped in one of Betty’s own. Looking over, she blinked at the worried face of her friend.

“Veronica,” _oh no,_ she thought, wincing at the use of her full name. “I don’t know what you’re doing or _not_ doing, but let me give you some advice,” Betty squeezed her hand and Veronica knitted her brows together but angled her body closer.

“We often find what we’re looking for in unexpected places. Most often, when we aren’t even paying attention. It sneaks up on us, it’s a little bit scary, but it’s _exciting._ You can’t control everything, I should know. So…” Betty paused, the corner of her lips turning up as she stared down at her hands for a moment. Bringing her attention back to Veronica, her green eyes sparkled under the streetlights of the parking lot. She continued, “Just let go.”

Then she was gone, and Veronica was left watching her blonde ponytail as it bobbed up the steps of the diner until she bounced through the door. The blonde latched onto Jughead in their designated booth, they instantly pressed together in a kiss. Veronica watched the perfect girl-next-door and the loner weirdo turned Serpent, radiating their shared love and happiness, and it burned a hole in her heart.

Truthfully, Veronica was glad they had worked through their issues. Betty hadn’t  been herself lately, so it was heartwarming to see her with such an ardent smile again.

She looked away, down to her hands where she was gripping her knees tightly. She felt that same sickly feeling in her gut and she recognized it this time.

Longing, remorse, _jealousy._

It would be wrong of her to say she wasn’t lonely, after her break up with Archie. The hurt was still there but something else was growing, rising, in its place.

Slipping out of the car, leaving her phone behind for once, she walked across the lot. Her eyes flitted over the single motorcycle parked out front before she jogged up the steps and through the doors. With a squeak of vinyl, she slid into the booth across from her friends then promptly ordered a plate of loaded chili cheese fries and a dark chocolate milkshake, extra cherries.

Betty raised an eyebrow at her from where she was tucked under Jughead’s arm and he looked up from his plate of fries with a similar expression of his own. Veronica would have wanted to laugh at their matching faces; if only they weren’t fairly directed at her.

She shrugged her shoulders, folding her hands on top of the table and leaning onto her elbows. “What?” she asked flippantly, her lips turning up into a smirk. “I’m trying something new.”

When Pop dropped the shake off in front of her, she used her index finger to swipe a bit of the whip cream off the top. Veronica brought it to her lips, sucking the sweetness from her finger.

She was ready for more.

 

 

_tbc_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on tumblr! [lilibug--xx](https://lilibug--xx.tumblr.com)


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